Visionary Wolf

“Yep,” he said. “I’ll take you back to the clinic now. Right?”

“Thanks.” She smiled at him.

He got a promise from the clearly worried Jason that he’d keep Liam informed about anything the doctors found and revealed about his cousin Drew’s bad blood. Then he told Rosa, “I’ve a stop to make before we leave.”

“Oh. Okay.” The way she looked at him, he assumed she thought he meant the restroom.

“Pit stop first is fine,” he agreed, “but that’s not what I meant.”

In a few minutes, he met her to go upstairs. Instead of heading for the door out of the building, he turned and said, “Time for some cover dog attention.”

“Really?” She sounded delighted. “Then you’re going to get yours?”

“Yep, that’s my Chase.”

“Is Spike there, too?”

He knew that was Seth’s dog. “Sure. That’s right—you took care of his wound, didn’t you? I’ve heard a lot about it.”

“He’s still okay, isn’t he?”

“He sure is.”

They’d reached the door to the large room where the cover dogs were in enclosures. For fun, Liam let out a brief howl as if he was shifted, and several of those inside responded in kind. He grinned at Rosa’s pleased smile.

“Gee, these guys sound a lot like wolves,” she said, “and so do you.”

“I wonder why.”

He asked her to wait outside while he went in for Chase. She agreed, but asked to peek in the door and see all the canines hanging out there behind the low fences.

When he returned with Chase, her smile was even broader.

“So this is how you look when you shift?” she asked.

“Yep, that’s me—or close enough to me for now.” He asked what she knew about cover animals. From what she told him, Rosa had already learned from Melanie that the shifters in Alpha Force all had cover animals who resembled them when they were shifted. That way, if a non-shifter happened to see them while they were in shifted form and claim they must be werewolves or whatever, they could later bring out their cover animal—mostly wolves here at Ft. Lukman these days—show the non-shifter, and tell them they’d simply seen the Alpha Force member’s pet. That seemed to work well, Liam thought, since Alpha Force members didn’t need to wait till a full moon to shift.

Now Rosa and Liam walked outside toward his car, then into the warmth of the midday air, and he soon tethered Chase in the back seat. His look-alike cover dog-wolf sat up and looked around expectantly. Chase always enjoyed attention and was probably eager to see what the rest of the day held in store for him.

There’d be one stop he might enjoy. After they dropped Rosa off at the vet clinic, Liam had promised a visit to his family in town—his brother, Chuck, and sister-in-law, Carleen. They had moved from Minnesota to Mary Glen just a few months ago and bought an existing restaurant that was a franchise for the Fastest Foods chain, planning to stay here a while.

That was the result of Liam learning about a possible experiment that would involve allowing limited individuals related to Alpha Force team members to occasionally use the elixir on nights of a full moon, with results to be examined by the unit. Those people had to be shifters, close in both relationship and distance, although if all went well, the program might be expanded.

Liam’s family were shifters like him, and were eager to have more access to the elixir. That’s why they had considered their move here worth it, even if they wound up only being closer to Liam. But of course they hoped things went better than that—and they had, at least somewhat. His family members had been allowed to use the elixir once now, during this most recent full moon, as part of the experiment. And more? That remained to be seen, but the ongoing experiment might help.

Liam had received a text message from Chuck a short while ago, as he waited for Rosa. He hadn’t seen his family since their shift last night, nor had he had a chance to speak with the Alpha Force member who’d acted as their temporary aide for the occasion, Sergeant Kristine Parran. Though he’d talked to them briefly on his way downtown before, and they’d sounded thrilled, he wanted to know more about how it all went, and apparently they wanted to talk to him, too. But he couldn’t stay long at the restaurant.

So first he’d take Rosa back to the veterinary hospital and dash in with her to see how Drew was doing. Then he’d stop to see family—quickly.

And finally, he would fulfill his obligation—and do what he really wanted to. He’d hurry back here to get on the computer at last.

As Liam pulled his car past the base’s front gate and onto the road secluded by trees, Rosa took her phone from her purse and looked at it. “I was hoping to get a call right away saying they’d figured out how to help Drew.”

“That would be a nice thing.” He looked at her briefly and nodded. And had an idea.

He could easily drive past the restaurant on the way to the clinic. That would give him a great excuse to keep his visit quick. He trusted Denny, but the aide was too new at this to fully accomplish what Liam needed to do. If he stopped with Rosa to buy a fast-food burger and coffee—and ask in more detail how his family had enjoyed last night—he could leave quickly to return Rosa to her clinic.

Besides, he would get to stay in her presence just a little longer. That wasn’t important, of course—no matter how much he knew he’d enjoy it. But the idea seemed to work well in all ways.

“I’d like to stop to pick up a meal to go, from the Fastest Foods shop,” he told Rosa. “My treat, if you’d like anything.”

The look she shot at him was one of surprise. “Good idea,” she said. “You don’t have to treat, but I’ll pick up a few things for the clinic staff...and also get Drew a burger to help keep his spirits up.”

“Good idea,” he said in turn. “We’ll be there soon.” Then he had to ask. “Did you get a sense that my superior officers knew what they were doing when it came to analyzing Drew’s blood and determining if that had anything to do with his non-shifting?”

“I liked those guys,” she hedged. “And I’m hopeful...but not sure. I just wish there was more I could do.”

He hated to hear the sad tone in her voice, and to see the dejection in her expression when he managed another glance toward her.

“I’ve got a feeling,” he said to cheer her up, “that there is more you can do, and you’ll figure it out.”

He looked at her again briefly as she shifted in her seat. “Really? I can’t make any promises, but I sure hope you’re right.”

Me, too, he thought, then made the turn from the woodsy road into town.

And if she figured it out—well, that would give him a good excuse to kiss those now happily smiling lips of hers in thanks.

Chapter 5

“There we are.” From the driver’s seat beside Rosa, Liam pointed just ahead along one of the town’s main streets. Sure enough, a familiar large neon sign that resembled those in lots of other locations jutted over the sidewalk: Fastest Foods.

“Yes,” Rosa agreed, trying to sound excited. And to her surprise, she was—a little.

A stop for a meal?

After all that had gone on today, Rosa wasn’t really hungry, but the stop would give her a little more time in Liam’s presence. Despite being in the same places a lot that day, they really hadn’t spent much time together.

On the other hand, she barely knew the guy. Plus he happened to be a shifter. Not that she disliked shifters.

Quite the contrary...but she certainly couldn’t be attracted to one, no matter how caring and sympathetic he happened to be about his commanding officer’s medical—or whatever—problem.

The restaurant stood alone in the middle of a sizable parking lot that also had a drive-through line. “Are we going to go through there?” Rosa pointed toward the stream of cars slowly inching forward.

“No, we’ll go inside, though we’ll order takeout.”

He fortunately found a parking spot right away in the busy lot and opened his door. Rosa opened hers, too, and hopped out. “I assume you’ll roll down the back windows a bit for Chase,” she said, looking into the back seat at the wolflike dog, who was now sitting up, panting a bit. Fortunately, the outside air was cool.

“No need,” Liam said. “He’ll come in with us.”

“Into the restaurant? Is that allowed?”

“Of course. He’s a soldier dog—and he’s also kind of my service dog.” Liam’s grin, as he stood beside her near the car on the black paved surface of the lot, seemed proud.

“Oh. Okay.” Rosa loved dogs, and other animals, enough that she wished they were all allowed into all restaurants and other places that served people.

Of course, shapeshifters were allowed anywhere—as long as they were in human form, as Liam was now.

And Rosa realized it was okay to bring Chase, too, when they walked in the door of the crowded, noisy restaurant and Liam was greeted right away by the people who seemed in charge.

A guy who’d been behind the service counter came out the door beside it and hustled toward Liam. They shook hands, then hugged each other. Was he a relative? The guy was about Liam’s height, with similarly dark hair and angular features. He wasn’t in a camo uniform, of course, but a blue denim shirt and jeans, with a white apron on top.

He looked down then and grinned at Chase, leashed beside Liam. “Can’t pet him, bro, though I know he’s family. You know that’s why we keep our Louper out back, too, when he’s here.”

“Right. Not sanitary when you’re on duty. But let me introduce you to someone.” Liam turned toward Rosa and gestured for her to join them.

As she did, a woman who’d been cleaning tables in the busy place dashed over. She was dressed similarly to the man who’d hugged Liam. She was slender, with long, silver-blond hair pulled into a clip at the back of her head, a very attractive woman—who also hugged Liam.

Rosa knew she shouldn’t feel jealous about that—especially when she looked down and saw a ring on the woman’s finger.

“So good to see you, Liam,” the woman said.

“I’ll say,” said the man.

Liam once more looked at Rosa. “I want to introduce you both to someone I’ll bet you’ll be very happy to know one of these days. This is Dr. Rosa Jontay, one of the town’s veterinarians. Rosa, this is my brother, Chuck, and his wife, Carleen. They own this place now—and they’re also owned by Louper, a dog who stays either in the enclosed backyard behind this place, or at home. He’s home today with a dog walker visiting him. Louper resembles Chase.”

Liam looked at her and grinned, and she read in his look the fact that these two people were also shifters who happened to have a cover dog, even though they weren’t military.

“Very nice to meet you.” She shook hands first with Carleen, then Chuck. “And I would be delighted to meet your dog sometime when he’s here or otherwise, though I hope he has no need of a vet.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Carleen said. “Now, you two come over here and sit down, and we’ll get you something to eat.”

“Oh, but—” Rosa began, but fortunately, Liam took over.

“We just need some takeout right now,” he said. “Rosa’s going to get some extra stuff for some of her veterinary staff, and she needs to get back to her clinic.”

“Great,” Carleen said. “We’ll get our staff moving on it right away. Just let them know at the counter what you want.”

There were several people ahead of them in the line, and Rosa didn’t want to butt in. “We’ll take our time,” she said. “But thanks.”

Liam nodded his agreement, though he said, “It helps to be related to the owners when you’re in a hurry. I agree with being polite to their customers, though. And if you don’t mind standing here a few minutes to hold our place, I’d appreciate it. I’ve something to ask Chuck.”

“Fine,” Rosa said, and agreed to keep Chase with her. She watched Liam talking to his brother by the wall nearest the door into the order area and kitchen. It was one of the few times she wished she had a shifter’s abilities—not to shift, but to hear things better than a normal person. The two brothers seemed to be talking animatedly, and she was curious about what they were saying.

The teenage guy at the front of the line stepped aside after placing his order. Rosa was glad to move ahead a little, particularly for the sake of the animals that might be needing her care back at the clinic.

Including, perhaps, Drew. She’d at least check on him, no matter what Melanie and the Alpha Force guy who’d taken over for Liam said about how he was doing—though she’d be absolutely delighted if he’d changed back during their absence.

Unlikely, though, or Melanie would have called her.

At least now there were only three more people ahead of her in line, and two appeared to be a couple. Rosa bent and patted Chase’s head. The dog was definitely behaving well, leashed at her side.

Liam rejoined her. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“Real good,” he responded, without more detail. In fact, he was quiet for a while.

“How long have your relatives owned this place?” Rosa asked finally, to make conversation. Besides, she was interested in his answer. “Did they follow you to Mary Glen?”

And did they want to become members of Alpha Force? she wondered. She figured that a lot of shifters might want to do so if they knew of the reality of Alpha Force, and its special elixir. With their relative, Liam, now a member, she had no doubt that Chuck and Carleen were well aware of the nature of that military unit.

She’d ask Liam more about them later, as she couldn’t here, in public.

“They’ve been here about four months,” Liam said. “They bought this franchise from the former owners and just took over. And yes, they followed me here.”

“Got it.” She looked around again. The restaurant was filled with customers—and with the aroma of grilled meat. Even she could smell it, and she figured it must be many times stronger to Liam, even in his human form. Or at least that’s what she’d heard from shifters in her past—and now. They all had enhanced senses.

And of course Chase stuck his nose in the air and sniffed, off and on.

The next person moved out of their way in line. As they started to edge forward a woman rushed out the door from the kitchen and threw herself against Liam, giving him a huge hug. “Liam, so glad to see you,” she exclaimed.

“Good to see you, too, Valerie,” he said, although his not-so-inviting expression, and the way he moved back, suggested he was fibbing a bit.

Somehow, that made Rosa feel a bit better about the woman’s highly effusive greeting. But who was Valerie?

She found out right away as Liam introduced them. “Rosa, this is Carleen’s sister, Valerie. And Valerie, Rosa’s one of Mary Glen’s wonderful veterinarians.”

Carleen’s sister—a sort of sister-in-law to Liam. That made Rosa feel somewhat better, although since they weren’t related by blood that connection wouldn’t keep Liam from getting into a relationship with her.

But that wasn’t Rosa’s business, though he hadn’t appeared to care about Valerie in that way.

Valerie resembled Carleen. Her silvery blond hair was shorter, though, and loose. She had deep brown eyes like her sister.

“Welcome to town,” Rosa said, to be polite. “Do you work here, too?” She gestured around the restaurant.

“I do right now,” the other woman said. “Look, you go ahead and place your orders, and then we can talk.”

She must have said that because Liam and Rosa had finally reached the front of their line. But Rosa didn’t want to take the time to talk to Valerie, and hoped Liam felt the same way.

Fortunately, Valerie disappeared, heading back into the kitchen—but then reappeared behind the counter, next to the guy who’d begun taking their order. She was the one to start entering things on the computer, and her counterpart, a twentysomething guy with a scruffy beard, didn’t look exactly thrilled about the help.

Rosa wasn’t surprised that Liam’s order consisted of a double burger, rare—lots of red meat. She asked for several sandwiches, including burgers and a couple containing chicken. The one with the most beef she intended to provide to Drew in his canine form.

When they were done ordering, Rosa immediately handed her credit card to Valerie over the counter. She’d already gotten it out and didn’t want to argue with Liam about it. She didn’t even look at him and was glad when Valerie took it from her and began to ring up their order.

“I’ll pay you back,” Liam growled from beside her. She just waved in a neutral gesture. This was another thing not to get into a discussion about here.

Valerie soon handed them the plastic bags containing their food. “Come back anytime, Rosa,” she said. “Bye, Chase. And Liam—when are we all getting together again? You know I’m only planning on being here for a fairly short while, so I’d really like us to see each other as often as possible while I’m in town.”

“I’ll talk to Chuck about it,” Liam said.

“Talk to Chuck about what?” said a voice from behind Rosa. Liam’s brother was there, maybe to say goodbye.

“Having a family get-together,” Valerie replied. “Soon, I hope.”

“Sounds good to me,” Chuck responded. “We’ll invite you over to our condo soon, bro. You, too, Rosa.”

She couldn’t help but cast a sideways glance toward Valerie to see what she thought about that invitation. Carleen’s sister remained smiling, and it didn’t appear forced.

Maybe Rosa was wrong about this woman flirting with her kind-of brother-in-law. Maybe she just intended to keep the family in contact as long as she did stay in town.

“Thanks,” Rosa said, not committing to anything.

But somehow the idea of spending more friendly time with Liam, not related to veterinary or Alpha Force issues, sounded good.

For now, though, she was glad when Liam said goodbye to Chuck, then Carleen, who also joined them, and waved to Valerie behind the counter.

Time for them to get busy with everything they each needed to do for the rest of the day.

Liam refused to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable about the attention Valerie had leveled on him. The woman was attractive, sure. She was also a shifter, like her sister. She’d made it seem that flirting with him was second nature to her, though he had never encouraged it.

But he always remained friendly toward her. She was, after all, a member of his family.

“Nice people,” Rosa said from beside him in the car. Behind them, Chase shifted in his seat, clearly wanting to get into the bags of food that sat on the floor near Rosa’s feet.

“Of course they are,” Liam said. “They’re family.”

“Like Chase?” Rosa wasn’t exactly jesting. She’d told him she considered pet dogs to be family, and she assumed the relationship between a shifter and his cover dog had to be strong.

“Yeah, kind of. Chase and I are pretty damn close these days.” Hearing his name, Chase sat back on the seat and made a low sound that made Liam laugh. “Glad you agree,” he said.

As they continued on, Liam thought a bit about his brief discussion with Chuck. Yes, both he and Carleen had loved the way their shift went. Yes, the Alpha Force person who’d acted as their aide for the night had been just great: Sergeant Kristine Parran. The elixir had been amazing. As far as he knew, all had gone well from Alpha Force’s perspective. And, yes, both Carleen and he would love to do it again. Soon.

Almost as if she read his thoughts, Rosa asked, “Are your brother and sister-in-law shifters, too?”

“Yes,” he acknowledged.

“Do they get to use your elixir?”

Good and appropriate question, he thought. Without saying too much, he told her they were involved in an experiment being conducted by Alpha Force, in which they could be given occasional doses of the elixir on nights of a full moon.

He was glad that Rosa and he had reached the vet clinic, since he didn’t want to answer any further questions she might have. Liam parked along the street. He intended not to just let Rosa out of the car. He planned to go inside and check with Denny about how things were going. And most especially, he wanted to see for himself how Drew was doing.

He opened his car door at the same time Rosa opened hers. Her expression seemed to register surprise as she turned back to look at him. “I thought you were just dropping me off so you could get to work.”

“Not till I check on Drew. Besides, we can wolf down our sandwiches together.” He grinned at his own pun, and she laughed.

“Fair enough.” She bent down to get the bags as Liam got out to leash Chase and let him out of the back seat.

As Rosa headed toward the clinic’s rear door, bags in hand, Liam let his dog sniff the curb and driveway, and when he was ready, hurried him to the entrance.

The street had been fairly well lined with cars, so Liam wasn’t surprised, as he entered the waiting room, to see a lot of people there with their pets—everything from an English sheepdog to a couple mewing kittens in carriers.

They all carried scents of their own.

Since he didn’t see Rosa there, he figured he’d better let the receptionist behind the desk know he needed to catch up with the vet. But Susie, whom he’d met before, smiled and motioned Chase and him through the inner door.

Rosa approached him from down the hall. “I just put our food in the break room, but let’s go check on Drew.”

“Great.” Liam followed her to the room where he had last seen his superior officer. Rosa opened the door, but motioned for him to enter first, which he did, Chase right behind him.

The place looked the same as before, with wolfen Drew sitting on the towel-covered top of the lowered table. With him, on one of the chairs against the wall, sat Staff Sergeant Noel Chuma, who was an aide to whichever Alpha Force shifter needed him.

And no one needed help now more than Drew.

Noel wasn’t a big guy, but he was strong, smart and dedicated to Alpha Force. He rose, and the expression on his deep-toned face worried Liam.

He couldn’t ask detailed questions now, though. Not in front of Drew.

“So, how’s our patient doing?” Rosa asked. She approached Drew, who regarded her with stony eyes that, on some canines—whether shifters or not—would have made Liam worry that he was about to attack.

He knew Drew wouldn’t do that. But Drew’s expression did indicate that he wasn’t happy.

That he probably didn’t have a sense he’d be shifting back anytime soon—and it was getting to be late afternoon on the day he should have retaken his human form early in the morning.

“He’s mostly been resting,” Noel answered for him. “We’ve been for a couple of walks and he seemed happy enough to be out of this room, but, well—happy isn’t the best word. I think he’s really frustrated.”

“Understandably,” Liam said.

Drew made a growling sound that didn’t seem threatening, but might’ve connoted frustration. It was enough to get Chase, who had sat beside Liam, to stand again and watch his sort-of counterpart.

“Tell you what,” Liam said. “Drew, are you okay with being here on your own for a few minutes? Dr. Rosa and I brought lunch back and we need to sort it out, but one of us is going to bring you a really good burger very soon.”

Drew answered by making a noise that this time sounded like a sigh, then lying back down.

He didn’t seem overly excited about the late, tasty lunch he’d get.

And Liam could understand why.

Chapter 6

“I don’t want to leave him alone for long,” Rosa said quietly, once they were back in the hall with the door shut behind them. “But we do have a sandwich for you, too, Sergeant Chuma.”

“Noel,” he corrected. “And I’m sure you want to talk with me about our CO and what went on while you all were gone.”

Rosa watched the two military guys trade glances. She figured Liam would hear a lot more than she would, but not while they were all together.